Indonesia’s Debt Growth Slows

Indonesia’s external debt growth slowed at the end of Q3/2018, US$359.8 billion, consisting of government and central bank debt of US$179.2 billion, and private including state-owned enterprises debt amounting to US$180.6 billion. Indonesia’s external debt at the end of Q3/2018 grew 4.2% (yoy), slower than the previous quarter’s growth of 5.7% (yoy). The slowdown in the external debt growth was resulted from sluggish government external debt growth, amid growing private external debt growth. The development of Indonesia’s external debt remains manageable with a healthy structure. This is reflected in, among others, the ratio of Indonesia’s external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of Q3/2018 which was stable at around 34%. The ratio is still better than the peers’ average.